Is crosswalk/ traffic safety an appropriate Community Health rotation?

[not_batman]

I feel like the school really dropped the ball on our community clinical We're last semester BSN seniors, and they're got us doing two things hospice rotations and traffic safety with schools.

Isn't crosswalks, crossing the street, and such really the realm of public safety? We're working with a division of a global non-profit, which I won't name, to take 4-5 weeks of our clinical rotation to assess dangerous traffic patterns (mainly u-turns and mid-block crossing in front of the school) during drop off and pick up at a school; teach kids about crossing the street safely; and put on a assembly for the students in order to get them to sign a safe crossing pledge.

I feel like this is the realm of the police and public safety.

Are we doing real good and service to the community? Yes.

Are we acting as free labor and brain power for this non-profit, under the facade that this is "our project"? Yes.

Would my time be better served following around a public health nurse, school nurse, doing something with the health department,, working at a free clinic or something similar? I think so.

Sorry about the rambling ranty-ness. Maybe I'm not conceiving of community and public health nursing in the right way? I'm feeling very conflicted, we're doing a good thing, but I'm feel I may not be getting the education and clinical experience that I should receive as a BSN student.

[erinmarie320]

Depending on how much freedom you have with the presentation, input, and involvement, it could be considered preventative, or 'upstream' as they say in my program, nursing. You can talk with the kids about preventing injuries, importance of safety, even work in bicycle helmet safety perhaps, and many other health promotion topics. It may seem a bit of a stretch to connect it to nursing, but as I said depending on your level of input into this non-profit organization's agenda, it could be nursing related.

For my community placement, we were simply assigned to the downtown core of my city and advised to look for a problem area and an organization to pair up with. Half of us worked with homeless youth, and half with young children to get them involved in physical activity. It's all what you make it and what you take from it I guess. :)

Good luck with your community placement! :)

[phuretrotr]

I think this would be a great 2 day assignment, but I doubt you nor the children want to learn how to put on a helmet and look both ways for 4-5 weeks. However, throughout my program we have various public health assignments, each only lasting 1 or 2 days. If your program has had no public health teaching, and you spent all of your time in the clinical setting, this may be the big hur-rah for public health for your program.

I know if seems like nothing related to nursing but you still have to teach in a developmentally appropriate way, which is part of nursing. Also, you're out in the community, you see problem areas which could/should be addressed, and not necessarily you, but public health nurses actually carry out those problems to be addressed and hopefully fix them.

It could be fun, especially if you like kids, but just take it for what it is.

[erinmarie320]

I think this would be a great 2 day assignment but I doubt you nor the children want to learn how to put on a helmet and look both ways for 4-5 weeks. [/quote']

LOL very true! Unfortunately we aren't always so lucky in nursing school. I had to spend 13 weeks on my community placement in the downtown core. It really was like beating a dead horse after 4 or 5 weeks.